Graphic Journal Card
by Jenifer Juris

Learn how to create a graphic style journal card that can be used for numerous projects.

Step One: Open a Journaling Card

• Download my FREE blank journaling card.
• Open the journalingcard-DS.jpg file (File > Open) from the folder.

Step Two: Create Type

• Get the Horizontal Type tool.
• In the Tool Options, choose a chunky font. Set the Size to 125 pts and click on the Center Alignment icon. My font is Impact.
• Click on the Foreground Color Chip to open the Color Picker.
• In the dialog box, enter Hex #959595. Click OK.
• On the document, click once and type XO.
• Click the checkmark to commit the changes.

• Press Ctrl J (Mac: Cmd J) to duplicate the type layer.
• Get the Move tool.
• On the document, click and drag the XO down until it’s below the first. See the screenshot below. 
  

• Get the Horizontal Type tool.
• On the document, click once within the second line of type and change the letters to OX.
• Click the checkmark to commit the change.
  

Step Three: Align the Type

• Get the Move tool.
• In the Layers panel, while holding down the Shift key, click on the first type layer so that both type layers are active.
• In the Tool Options, under Align click on Middle to align the horizontal centers.
• In the Menu Bar, choose Layer > Merge Layers.

Step Four: Add a Graphic Shadow

• In the Layers panel, click on the XOOX layer to activate it all by itself.
• Press Ctrl J (Mac: Cmd J) to duplicate the layer.
• In the Layers panel, click on the original XOOX layer to activate it.
• Click on the Foreground Color Chip to open the Color Picker.
• In the dialog box, enter Hex #252525. Click OK.
• Press Shift Alt Backspace (Mac: Shift Opt Delete) to fill the layer with the foreground color. You will not see any change to your document.
• Press Ctrl J (Mac: Cmd J) 50 times to duplicate the shape 50 times. Yes, 50 times!
• In the Layers panel, click on the very bottom XOOX layer to activate it.
• Get the Move tool. In the Tool Options, uncheck Auto Select.
• On the document, click and drag the XOOX layer down and to the right. Use the screenshot as a guide.

• In the Layers panel, while holding down the Shift key, click on the top most black XOOX layer so that all of the black XOOX layers are activated.
• In the Tool Options, under Distribute click on the Left icon to distribute the left edges. Don’t panic, it’s going to look funny for just a moment. See the screenshot below.

• In the Tool Options, under Distribute click on the Bottom icon to distribute along the bottom edges. There, that’s better.

• In the Layers panel, click once on the top most (gray) XOOX layer.
• While holding down the Shift key, click on the bottom most (black) XOOX layer to activate all of the XOOX layers.
• Press Ctrl E (Mac: Cmd E) to merge the layers together.

Step Five: Center the Word Art

• In the Layers panel, holding down the Shift key, click on the Background layer. Now both layers should be active.
• Get the Move tool.
• In the Tool Options, under Align click on Middle to align the horizontal centers.
• Click on Center to align the vertical centers.
  

Step Six: Add Finishing Touches

• Save the journaling card (File > Save As) as a JPG file with a unique name.
• Close the working document without saving.

Here’s my journaling card after adding a heart stamp.

And here’s how I used the journaling card on a scrapbook page.

Credits:
Page & Photo: Jenifer Juris
Tutorial: Graphic Journal Card by Jenifer Juris
Kit: Totally Smitten by Kristin Cronin-Barrow and Shawna Clingerman
Fonts: Hello Sunshine, Becca

After posting your results online,
return here and include the link in the comments.

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Author: Jenifer Juris | Contact Us
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